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04 April 2024
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Story Lunga Luthuli
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Photo SUPPLIED
Dr Juliet Kamwendo champions gender-inclusive climate action in Africa. Her expertise at the recently held AFR100 workshop highlighted vital steps towards sustainable and equitable development.
Dr Juliet Kamwendo, Lecturer and Programme Director for Gender Studies in the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State, is spearheading efforts to integrate gender considerations into Africa's climate restoration agenda. Reflecting on her involvement, Dr Kamwendo stated, "This is particularly crucial, as women make up almost 50% of the population in Africa, and the depletion and degradation of land affect them disproportionately."
She recently served as a gender expert at the AUDA-NEPAD AFR100 workshop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 25 to 29 March 2024. This initiative aims to restore forests and degraded land across Africa by 2030, with a focus on gender equality.
The workshop emphasised the integration of gender perspectives into the AFR100 project, acknowledging the disproportionate impact of land degradation on women. Dr Kamwendo's expertise highlighted the need to empower women in climate change interventions, addressing existing gender inequalities exacerbated by environmental degradation.
“Women – who are primarily responsible for household food security and water provision – bear the brunt of environmental degradation, leading to increased workloads, reduced income opportunities, and heightened vulnerability to climate-related disasters. Furthermore, the loss of forest cover and biodiversity further exacerbates the challenges faced by women, particularly in rural areas where they depend heavily on natural resources for their livelihoods,” added Dr Kamwendo.
Her participation highlights academia's crucial role in fostering inclusive and sustainable development, emphasising interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle complex environmental challenges. Through initiatives such as AFR100, stakeholders are working towards a more resilient and gender-responsive future for Africa.
International exhibition, ‘Signs of Solidarity: The Dutch Against Apartheid’ stimulates reflection on SA’s past
2015-08-03
The Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) has arranged for the popular travelling exhibition, ‘Signs of Solidarity: The Dutch Against Apartheid’, to be shown on the Bloemfontein Campus. In support of the University of the Free State’s Human Project, the IRSJ strives to stimulate reflections into South Africa’s past, and to establish a conversation about the significance of our history by bringing this exhibition to the campus.
Details of the event
Date: 4 August 2015
Time: 14:00 – 15:30
Place: UFS Sasol Library foyer, Bloemfontein Campus
RSVP: Eddie de Wet at DeWetE@ufs.ac.za
The exhibition will be opened by the Vice Chancellor and Rector of the UFS, Professor Jonathan Jansen and the Ambassador to South Africa from the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands, Marisa Gerards.
‘Signs of Solidarity: The Dutch Against Apartheid’ is a moving testimony to the massive scale of civil support the Netherlands has shown to South Africa’s liberation struggle. Their support grew to such an extent that it not only became a national agenda, but also one of the greatest protest movements the Netherlands has ever known.